The expulsion of Jews from Berlin in 1941 (paragraphs 5.90-110 above)

13.21 The Defendants advance two criticisms of Irving's treatment of Himmler's note of his conversation with Heydrich on 30 November 1941. In my view both criticisms are justified. The first is that Irving was wrong in his claim that the instruction Keine liquidierung (no liquidation) was intended to apply to Jews generally. Irving acknowledged that the inclusion in Himmler's note of the words "aus Berlin" is clear evidence that the instruction relates solely to Jews being deported from Berlin and not to Jews from elsewhere. After some prevarication during the trial, Irving also accepted that he was mistaken when he read Judentransport (in the singular) as referring to Jewish transports (in the plural). The second criticism (which is more important for the purpose of this case) is that Irving is in error when he claims that the instruction not to liquidate the Jews on that transport emanated from Hitler. There is no evidence that Hitler "summoned" Himmler to his headquarters and "obliged" him to telephone to Heydrich an order that Jews were not to be liquidated.

13.22 Whilst I accept that an historian is entitled to speculate, he must spell out clearly to the reader when he is speculating rather than reciting established facts. In Hitler's War (1977 edition) Irving presents Himmler's note as "incontrovertible evidence" that Hitler issued a general order prohibiting the liquidation of Jews. The evidence from Wisliceny and Greiser, which is not mentioned by Irving, supports the view that Hitler was complicit in the deportation and killing of Jews in 1941. I do not accept Irving's argument that the evidence of the summoning of Jeckeln to Berlin and the reference in Himmler's diary for 4 December 1941 to "guidelines" amount to evidence from which it is reasonable to infer that there was a general prohibition in force at this time against the killing of all European Jews.

13.23 In regard to Himmler's log for 1 December 1941, his manuscript is difficult to decipher. Irving claimed that that was the reason why he misread "haben" as "Juden". Be that as it may, Irving accepted that he misrepresented this document. I do not accept that the error is immaterial: if it ordained that Jews were to remain where they were, out of harm's way, it would have given protection to a very large number of Jews whose lives were in jeopardy if they were moved elsewhere. But, as Irving accepts, that was not what Himmler was ordering.